Children from birth can begin to learn language Ė both spoken and written.
There is very little difference to a child anxious to make sense of the symbols
of communications. Children Ė even infants Ė are very motivated, as long as the
process is natural, gentle and rewarding. They can learn spoken language, sign
language or written language.

There are four essential steps for young children to learn how to read early
and well:

UNDERSTAND VALUE OF WRITTEN SYMBOLS: Parents
and other loved ones need to read to children from birth and also read
materials of their own interest. Through such modeling, young children begin
to understand the nature and value of written communication. If reading is
valuable to parents, it is perceived to be valuable by children. They will
want to read, too, and we often see children pretend to know how to read if
their parents have read to them regularly.

UNDERSTAND NATURE OF WORDS: As adults and
older siblings read to children, the younger children begin to understand the
nature of words -- written symbols that represent reality. This can be
achieved in more powerful and systematic fashion if young children are taught
some sights words. As explained below, even children 1 to 2 years old can gain
a 100-word reading vocabulary through sight reading techniques. Through this
process, they understand the nature of these written symbols and begin
mastering them.

UNDERSTAND NATURE OF LETTERS: Sight reading
does not, in and of itself, teach children the nature of letters, that letters
symbolize sounds. Most children do not gain this understanding simply from
parental modeling. However, it is vital for children to gain this
understanding before they start kindergarten if their parents want them to
succeed in school and in life. Various multi-sensory techniques can facilitate
this process for children starting at about 3 years of age. The Frontline
Reading Curriculum, for example, provides powerful musical and visual aides
that help a teacher or parent to teach letter names and sounds to children
quickly and systematically.

UNDERSTAND HOW LETTERS CAN BE BLENDED INTO WORDS &
INTERPRETED: At about age 4, children who have achieved the prior three
steps can be taught how to blend letter sounds together and to sound out words
they have not learned by sight. While most mature readers read more words by
sight than by phonetic understanding, every fluent reader must also learn
phonics. Again, the Frontline Reading Curriculum is an excellent instructional
resource for parents and early childhood educators. It was developed in a
preschool that teaches all of its 250 preschoolers how to read in just a
couple hours a week. The children attend class 4-6 hours a week, but only a
small portion of that time is spent on the reading curriculum.

Currently, the International Education Institute's free Early Reading Curriculum emphasizes Steps 1 and 2, helping parents and early
childhood educators to teach young children -- 1 to 4 years old -- hundreds of
sight words and prepare them to begin the journey toward full reading fluency.
We will add curriculum for Steps 3 and 4 over the coming months.

Frontline has demonstrated that 3-year-olds can begin learning letter names
and sounds, and 4-year-olds can begin blending letters into words, learning
hundreds of words very quickly.

Reading
Master of New Zealand has shown that children can be reading by age 2. Reading
Master children first build a sight-reading vocabulary, but are provided visual
clues to help them begin learning phonics, as well.

Reading Master based its approach, in part, on the work of Doman. The "Gentle
Revolution" of creating "baby geniuses" was launched by Doman in the late 1960s, and
emphasizes sight reading. He showed that young children can start learning to
read at birth, and that they can master a wide array of complex concepts during
their preschool years.

We read Doman's book, "Teaching Your Baby to Read," and tried his approach on our young daughters
more than 25 years ago. While we were
using word strips with our older daughter, then 3, our
1-year-old demonstrated that she, too, could read the words. As we played the
"Word Game," our older daughter learned to read such words as "knee," "elbow,"
"head," "mouth," "eyes," and "nose," while our younger daughter would touch
those parts of her body in response to the word strips even before she could say the
words.

There is research that indicates that early reading instruction can be
harmful in that it can turn children off from reading. But the research does not
distinguish adequately between instructional approaches. The key is to make sure
early reading NEVER seems like formal instruction when
children are under 4, and even after 4 if they lack sufficient motivation. That
motivation typically correlates to the amount of "lap time"
the children have had reading with family members. Lap time models the reading behavior and provides incentive to children
to learn how to read "just like mommy and daddy." All parents should
be encouraged to read with their children 20 minutes a day if they want their
children to be successful in school and later careers.

The Doman/Reading Master approach for young children is simply "story time,"
"Word Game time," "TV time," or "computer play time,"
depending on the instructional medium being used. But inserted into all of these
fun activities is a learning component that will allow young children to learn
to read as naturally as they learn to speak their native language.

The Doman and Reading Master organizations claim they have never received
even one report of failure from the parents of tens of thousands of young
children using their systems. But neither you nor your children should refer to
these learning activities as
"instruction." This is just fun. For 4-year-olds you can be a little more
direct.

You can tell young children, "Itís reading time." But in any case, donít ever ask a
child, "Do you want to learn to read now?" Instead, instill in them
certain habitual expectations. Every day, for example, you should turn off the
TV and say, "It is reading time now." At first, all you will mean is that it is
time for you to read a story to them. Once that is a habit, you can add Word
Game and other reading-related activities. Regarding "donít dos," donít let
your young children play games on your computer unless you know they are valid
learning exercises. Otherwise, you quickly begin losing some of the glamour of the
computer for serious learning. My advice: no games on the computer at ANY age
unless they are educational exercises. Then the computer will be a useful tool
throughout a child's life.

The music-enhanced Frontline Reading Curriculum is wonderful with 4-year-olds
who have had sufficient lap time with their parents. But, if not, these children
and younger ones need first to understand what words are all about before they
can be taught phonics. The Doman/Reading Master sight reading approach accomplishes that even
with children who lack lap time.

For this reason we have chosen to utilize the Doman approach in the first
eight books of our free Early Reading Curriculum. Ultimately, 95% of the words we read as adults have
become "sight words" that we have memorized and no longer have to sound out. It
is important that children learn phonics, but they can begin learning sight
words from birth (the same as they learn spoken "sound words") -- long before
they can comprehend phonics rules. Over the coming months we will add books and
other tools to help children learn letter names and sounds, and to accomplish
Step 3 of the four essential steps needed for full reading fluency.

By learning to read the first eight books of our free
Early Reading Curriculum, however,
children can develop a vocabulary of over 200 words. But more importantly, the
children understand what reading is all about, that words are symbols for
reality. And children are then ready to expand their reading capabilities. Soon
we will add more books and other learning tools to teach the letter names and
sounds -- along with additional sight words -- and help prepare children to make
the transition into phonetic reading typically taught in schools.

As soon as children master the first eight books, currently we recommend the Frontline Phonics Reading Curriculum.
The original instructional music that comes with the curriculum is a great tool
for younger children. Even birth is not too young to begin playing or singing
these instructional songs with your
children. For more details, email us at
Reading@ReadToSucceed.com.